The Importance of Self-Scheduling for Freelance Writers

May 28, 2012 5:57 PMLeave a Comment

Time management for writers of any kind seems crucial. This has been on my mind much more often lately because I have been working as a professional tutor with varying schedule for half the time, and freelance writing for various clients and magazines during the other half.

What I used to write on at my grandparent's work. Photo Credit: Emma Mincks

I generally work every day, but have realized, after getting pretty sick this past week, that as a freelancer, I have the ability to set my own schedule. There is nobody forcing me to do anything, yet I still barely have any free time. Hmmmm…. Maybe there is something wrong with this picture? I have been thinking that I should probably manage my time so I can have more hard- earned breaks, and so I can stop lugging my computer with me everywhere on the off chance that I will be able to write an article on my way to meet a friend or a tutoring client.

My work-a-holism has turned into an unnecessary sort of obsession and an unhealthy way to live my life. Carrying the computer with me always has been an unnecessary burden that has really been a pain in the neck (literally), and also just constantly reminds me of the work I have waiting for me. This is what I got in the habit of doing when I was in graduate school, and I was always worrying about falling behind in my grading, planning, reading, research, or writing if I did not make myself work or have work with me at least 17 hours a day. I even slept with my books either in my bed or next to my bed when I was not working with them.

Realizing this has been huge for me, and I feel much better since I have tried to slow down and separate my time a bit more. However, I need more free time. While brainstorming how to enforce these breaks for myself, I made contact with one of my Twitter followers, @Flittero, who told me that he only allows himself to work until noon every day. Never a minute past. He also said he writes better in the morning, when he is not quite awake yet.

I also asked people on facebook what their process looks like, and yet another writer mentioned the noon cutoff time. That really appeals to me because I usually tutor high school students, so I don’t generally start tutoring work until at least 1pm, but most often 3.

By enforcing a writing cutoff time of 12, I would get at least an hour break, and also not have to lug my computer with me for the rest of the day. Sounds like a good plan to me, although I have been having a hard time getting up, so I will need a lot of coffee- may need to buy a coffee maker, because I’d like to spend some time at home at least a couple of days during the week.

Coffee is a necessity for me in the mornings, at least if I want to get anything done.

It seems this schedule works really well for some people, and I think it could save me a lot of grief if it works for me too. I know that when I have been strapped for time, I still tend to get the work done, just at a faster pace. Enforcing that time constraint on myself could be a really useful way to improve my writing output and quality of life. I am determined to enforce this 12:00 cut off rule for myself starting tomorrow, and will let you know how it works. If I am going to keep doing this freelancing business, it seems organizing my time is key to success.

If you have any other ideas about self-scheduling, or suggestions about maximizing creativity in a short period of time, let us know in the comments!

Best,

Miss E

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Review: The Alchemist, Paulo Coehlo

May 19, 2012 4:56 PM2 Comments

Sorry it has been slow lately with the blog. I have been swamped with writing work and computer malfunctions. However, in between all of that chaos, I did read a book that I wanted to tell you about. The Alchemist.

There are few things that can really motivate people to follow life dreams as much as the magical ideas in this text. Paulo Coehlo presents us with the primary character, Santiago, who has a dream at the very beginning, and then follows it through to the end, despite a few road bumps along his journey from Spain to Egypt.

Throughout The Alchemist, Santiago keeps encountering people along his path who help him attempt to achieve his goals even more. They are characters who tell him that he is following his life’s purpose, in this book called a Personal Legend. According to the narrator and the character he encounters, all of the universe is connected, and once you attempt to fulfill your personal legend, everything in the universe will conspire to make that dream happen. It is the belief of this story that even though every person on the planet is born with their personal legend, few people end up following it, because they give up after the first few chances, are they are too afraid of what will happen if they attempt it and fail.

Cover artwork for the newer edition.

I really enjoyed this book, though it took me a few chapters to get really into it. The version I read is a translation, unfortunately, which is generally not anywhere near the original in many cases. I actually do read Spanish with an intermediate fluency, but even though the main character is from Spain, the original text is written in Portuguese. The couple of phrases I know in Portuguese would not get me through the text, I’m sure. Sigh. If you have read both versions (English and Portuguese), please let us know in the comments how the English translation compares.

The book is written in a unique way, that seems both plain and allegorical at the same time, and sort of lays out the idea of the Personal Legend in a way that is both surreal, and yet very simple to understand. The theme is repeated throughout the text, in a way that both reminds the main character and the reader of the purpose of the book: to espouse that worldview, that everything in the universe is connected, and all of us are born with Personal Legends.

There is a moment that seems somewhat misogynistic, since in some ways the character’s future wife is also part of his personal legend. She seems to only live to wait for him while he fulfills his personal legend, and says that her own is simply to meet him and fall in love with him. While he gallivants through the pyramids, she hangs out in her home village, getting water from the well, and waiting for him to return and marry her. This is also shown to be part of desert culture, however, and she says that all women of the desert wait for their men to return to them.

It was a fast read, but a highly enjoyable one. Also, what a beautiful concept, that each of us is here to fulfill our dreams, and that the universe will help us along the way. I linked the author’s Wikipedia entry at the top of this article- his life is definitely interesting, and pretty inspiring.  Usually, I do not partake in biographical readings, but it does definitely seem like Santiago is a mirror in some ways to the author himself.

I would recommend this to anyone who is facing one of those big life forks in the road, or people who are about to embark on a long journey. I would give the book 4.5/5 stars. Read with a bold Tempranillo.

Shout out to my friend Katherine for lending me this novel!

Best,

Miss E

Posted in reading, WritingTagged , , , , , , ,

Students Who Inspire Their Teachers

May 17, 2012 4:02 AMLeave a Comment

Hello Readers,

It is often the case that I feel I learn more from my students than I expect to, and sometimes I feel like I learn more from them than they do from me. Whatever the case, I thoroughly enjoy working with learners, and I am very happy that I get to do one-to-one work with a larger group of students now that I am out of the classroom and working in a tutoring center. I wanted to share an amazing experience I had recently with one of the students I tutor.

He is very bright, but also very linear. Sometimes, writing can be difficult for him. We have been doing some free writing, but working more on sentence construction and grammar for papers he is revising.

He wanted to try some creative writing, so I gave him a prompt the other day, that I found from a prompt generator site, simply asking, “why do people steal?”

Not only did he write one of the most imaginative and creative responses that I have ever seen in all my years of tutoring and teaching free write prompts, but he wrote a simultaneously heart wrenching and sardonic story about a refugee child who also happens to have eaten too much candy and be on a sugar crash. Moreover, He wrote his response in poetry, not prose.

I must say, that has never happened in my experience yet. Even more interestingly, and to add to my excitement about his response, he not only chose to write poetry, but he wrote free-form poetry, alternating lines, with lots of space in between the various words, and almost forming a hand print on the page. It happened in about 5 minutes and was utterly beautiful.

Free Form Poetry

By the way, this student is not an advanced student, or an older student- he is in 6th grade. It was just amazing.

Thankfully, he will continue to write during our sessions, but he will also be taking a creative writing class next year. I asked him to sign his work, and made sure that he was OK with my making a copy of it. I think I will frame it and hang it up.

There are many moments that make me grateful to teach, but the other day was one of the most surprising I have encountered so far.

I love my job.

Best,

Miss E

Posted in Teaching/Tutoring, WritingTagged , , , , , , , ,

Review: The Art of Mending, Elizabeth Berg

May 12, 2012 10:31 PMLeave a Comment

I don’t know what it is about Elizabeth Berg and I lately, but I am pretty sure that I have read more of her this past year than I ever planned to. It seems like something in the sentiment of her novels, the family aspect of them, or the quilt pictures on the covers, draw me in with their home-centered themes. I just finished reading her novel The Art of Mending, coming closely on the heels of another one I reviewed here not too long ago.

The Art of Mending was a fast read, but it had quite a few gems of wisdom, and some enjoyable writing. This novel featured the first person narration of one sister of a family, who makes quilts for a living. She is creative, outgoing, and also pretty tough in how she views the world and her family. For her, it is easier to pretend nothing is wrong than to worry and speculate about what might be wrong. She just tries not to think about the negative parts of life, and pretty well succeeds with that goal until her sister calls her to tell her they need to talk.

Reading at a wonderful local restaurant- Root Tree in Ballard

It was interesting to read the story of Caroline, the sensitive and dramatic sister, through the narration of the pragmatic and at times very avoidant Laura. Although she originally wants to ignore the things her sister tells her about her childhood experiences in their family, she really has to face the fact that perhaps her family is not perfect, and neither is she. The way all of the characters cope with this element of life is themed throughout the book, and I felt that it was pretty well done.

I would give this book a higher score than my review of her other book, Year of Pleasures. This one was definitely more heartfelt, and her character personalities seemed much more unique in Art of Mending. Since I would definitely mark this as a leisure read, despite the depths that Berg unravels in the plot, in that category I would give it a 4.5-5. It was certainly not fluff, even though it was enjoyable and was a quick read.

As to food and drink while reading, I would definitely recommend drinking Margaritas paired with chips and salsa, or diet Pepsi with chocolate brownies. Those foods and drinks are featured in the novel, and at happier moments.

I would recommend this book to read, especially if you are looking for a leisure read with depth. If you are into family narratives as much as I am, or if you are experiencing family stress, the novel may speak to you even more. I will warn readers that if you are not familiar with small town culture, this book might seem somewhat foreign at first. Much of the plot takes place in northern Midwest America, and there are definitely small town references and activities referenced in the novel. I honestly liked that, but not every reader would.

If you do read it, I would love to know what your opinions are.

Happy Reading,

Miss E

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Moby Dick Quote About Connectedness

May 7, 2012 7:49 PMLeave a Comment

Hello Readers,

I have been starting to get excited about re-reading Moby Dick, as I discussed in this previous post. I have decided to start sharing quotes with you from the text that I find to be simply fantastic. Today’s quote is from Chapter 134, The Chase-Second Day.

“They were one man, not thirty. For as the one ship that held them all; though, it was put together of all the contrasting things-oak, and maple, and pine wood; iron, and pitch, and help- yet all these ran into each  other in the one concrete hull, which shot on its way, both balanced and directed by the long central keel; even so, all the individualities of the crew, this man’s valor, that man’s fear; guilt and guiltlessness, all varieties were welded into oneness, and were all directed to that fatal goal which Ahab their one lord and keel point to.”

Yes, that was two sentences.

What do you think of this quote?

Best,

Miss E

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Blogging Woes- Spammers and Scammers

May 4, 2012 12:02 AMLeave a Comment

Hello readers,

There is so much to do in getting my site back up and running to its full potential, and I’m still teaching myself how to navigate the differences between wordpress.com and wordpress.org.

However, the most bizarre difference I have noticed is that because of the absence of Askimet spam blocking, I have been bombarded! Yikes! I mean, this is spam of all varieties, from handbag knockoff sites to random Russian back link postings. What’s up with that? Do you have the same experience?

You may have also noticed that I currently updated the image for the blog. It’s a picture I took the other day when I was at a farmer’s market.

Looking For Pemberley- new blog image?

I love it, but I might also take a higher resolution photo of the old books. What do you think?

Anyways, back to the trenches of writing and working on finding the correct plug-ins, etc. to make the blog beautiful and user friendly again.

Hope you are having a great week!

Best,

Miss E

 

Posted in WritingTagged , , , , ,

More Blog Update

April 24, 2012 6:04 PMLeave a Comment

Hello Readers,

Let me know if you get this in your inbox. During the move to WordPress.org I have lost a few things. Included in those things lost are the blogrolls, my theme, and some images.

At least the content is safe- for that I feel very relieved! Thanks for Katherine, who really has helped me through this process, and without her help I would have not even made it this far.

Still dreaming of a beautiful blog!

I moved so that I could have more creative control over the site, and so I could choose which Ads go up on the blog. Although I loved blogging at WordPress.com, I did not appreciate that Ads were placed on my blog without my permission.

I am hoping to make this site just as solid as, if not better than, the regular Looking for Pemberley site, but I might need your patience. I do not have the resources to hire a web developer, or to take more than about an hour or two a day to work on updates. It is just me and the friends who are helping me figure out how to fix the blog, so it might take a little while. For updates on my progress, check out either my Twitter at PemberleyMissE or facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Looking-for-Pemberley/125733760882444

Thanks for your support!

Cheers,

Miss E

 

Posted in PemberleyTagged , , , , ,

Lost and Found

April 17, 2012 4:12 PM8 Comments

Hello Readers!

So, remember when I was lamenting the loss of some of my books in progress? I just found one of them again yesterday! It’s Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, and I have just finished reading it. I believe I started it quite a while back, I mean, perhaps as far back as September or October even.

However, I sadly lost it just as things were getting really exciting in the storyline, and here’s the reason why: I’m a book sleeper- I have always liked to read before bed, and in graduate school I developed a (bad? Or Good?) habit of keeping my books close at hand, piled on the side of the bed in heaps. That worked pretty well when I had a bed on the floor, but apparently it does not work so well when the bed is raised.

Very nice tree. I really just wanted to post a tree picture ;)

I found the book tucked away under my bed, amongst a few other items I have been searching for, some for months. Next time I lose a book, I am looking here first.

Will be back with a review for you soon about this novel! I am also curious to know your experiences with books before sleep. Do you leave your books piled on your bed? Do you have a bookshelf next to your bed? I am looking for some strategies for managing this better in the future, and will hopefully be able to continue my reading habits of many at a time, without losing more of my books.

Best,

Miss E

 

Posted in Creativity, Fun, readingTagged , , , , , , ,

Reading Moby Dick (Again)

April 13, 2012 12:52 PM21 Comments

Here are the 10 Reasons I need to re-read Moby Dick:

  1. One should probably do this at least once every three years, just as a general practice.
  2. I love this novel so much I painted a mural on my door, as discussed in this previous post.
  3. My tattoo of the future (I’ve been wafting on this for years) is inspired by Moby Dick, and I need some ideas for completing the design. I know that I am not the only one to want a Moby Dick tattoo- I have found a lot of them, some of which are on my Pinterest.

    Western Washington coast- drifted log on the beach. I live by an ocean now- that also probably means I should read Moby Dick again, right?

  4. I would like to revamp an old paper I wrote about the novel and send it off to a scholarly journal.
  5. I miss it.
  6. I want to paint another mural.
  7. I want to read it again after having a Masters and see how that changes my reading.
  8. It can be reviewed, lovingly, on the blog in one or multiple posts, thus contributing to the book reviews requested in one of my previous polls.
  9. I will probably be using it for tutoring soon- one of my students has shown an interest in reading it, which of course makes me very happy.
  10. There is really not a good reason I can come up with not to re-read it :)

I also found this really interesting blog of an artist who seems also very obsessed with Moby Dick, and makes artwork based on every page of the novel.

What do you think of Moby Dick? How many times have you read it, if any? If you have not read it, why not?

Happy Friday,

Miss E

Posted in readingTagged , , , , , , , ,

National Library Week

April 12, 2012 6:04 PM4 Comments

Hello readers,

This is the third to the last day of National Library Week. While I love the idea of National Library Week, I also feel like every week in my life could be a library holiday. What a great idea though!

Not a library, but a place for books nonetheless...

I guess this could be a great week to check out my neighborhood branch of the Seattle Public Library :)

Is anyone going to the conferences or doing something special to participate?

Cheers,

Miss E

Posted in Uncategorized
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